Wydad Casablanca booked their place in the final of the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League on Friday, after playing to a 1-1 draw with Petro du Luanda in the return leg of their semifinals tie.
The match took place at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca.
Wydad Casablanca progressed with a 4-2 aggregate, having won the first leg in Luanda, Angola 3-1 last weekend.
Petro went ahead on the 21st minute courtesy of Gleison Moreira, but Amine Farhane leveled the matter seven minutes later for the hosts.
The game got off to a lively start as Yahya Attiat had a chance to give Wydad the lead in the tenth minute after latching onto a through ball by Jalal Daoudi but he was thwarted by goalkeeper Welligton De Lima.
Petro also had a big chance to go ahead from a transition three minutes later after Tiago Lima went clear on goal but shot-stopper Ahmed Tagnaouti made a great save with his foot.
The Angolans eventually got the opening goal when Gleison drilled a shot from range into the bottom left corner of the net from outside the area to reduce the deficit to one goal in the tie.
Wydad responded by throwing numbers forward in attack and were rewarded seven minutes later when defender Farhane sneaked in to head a corner from Yahia Attiyat Allah.
Petro increased their tempo early in the second stanza as Jareid Lopez nearly found the back of the net three minutes into the second half with a strike inside the box that sailed slightly wide of the upright.
Wydad were struggling to get out of their own half towards the hour-mark as the visitors were applying the pressure, but the Moroccans continued to push and went agonisingly close in the 67 minutes when Guy Mbenza’s header crashed against the upright.
Petro were unfortunate not to punish Wydad on a break attack seven minutes before time after Tagnaouti tipped Pedro Pinto’s header onto the crossbar from Goncalve’s cross.
The game was on the edge in the dying minutes, as Yahya Jarbane was denied the winner for Wydad from a header that came off the woodwork, as the Moroccans successfully booked their place in the final for the fifth time in their history.
